Brittany's recap

I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to go on this  
trip!  I got to know some truly amazing people whom I will never  
forget.  I loved going to visit Prague for a couple of reasons.   
First, I had never been there before in my life!  There was so much to  
see and learn about everywhere we went.  It was neat to see that there  
were almost no paved roads or sidewalks in the city.  They were all  
made of cobblestones, and they had really cool designs and patterns.   
Second, this area is part of my heritage.  My last name mens bird in  
Czech :)  Third, I had never been in a mirror maze before, and we  
found one in Prague.  We had a great time laughing at our elongated  
and morphed reflections.  And, finally, it had such amazing views and  
things to see!  After the mirror maze, some of us went up in this huge  
tower that overlooked all of Prague. 

1/2 of our team got this treatment/pedicure type thing done (I don't
really know what it is called) where fish ate the dead skin off of
their feet!!! The other half of the team went shopping and to watch
the show at the bell tower.

In Slovenia, we did the hamster balls...So fun! I was able to do a
couple cartwheels, but they didn't end up too pretty. I fell a bunch
of times :)

We also jumped off of the diving board...
In Croatia, we got to play some amazing teams. Some of them were much
older than us too.

We went to the beach and got food at the market down the street though
it wasn't always the healthiest food I must admit.

As far as the playing goes, I thought that we improved a ton as a team
throughout the tournament. It was so much fun to beat Pula and
Northern California. I also enjoyed taking a game off of the Romanian
team whom we had made friends with on the bus the previous night.

I had so much fun going to see Harry Potter in the ancient colosseum in
Pula. We drew lightning scars on our faces and some of us carried
around sticks that we broke off of a tree as wands.
After Croatia, we went to Venice. Taylor, Willow, Emily, and I met up
with Emily's parents and went to the top of a tower in Saint Mark's
Square and got an amazing view of the city!

After that we went shopping and out to eat dinner at a restaurant called S. Stefano.
Our time in Venice ended all to quickly though, and before we knew it,
we were back at our hotel and packing for our flight home the next
day. This experience is truly something that I will never forget, and
I know that I have our coaches, Hava, Brock, and Val, to thank for
that! We met some incredible people that I will treasure for the rest
of my life! I look forward to staying in touch with the girls!!
Thanks again to everyone :)

Emily's recap

This trip was an incredible experience. From meeting and playing with most of the girls in L.A. to our last game in Pula, our volleyball team improved so much! I had a lot of fun traveling and sightseeing. Prague was really unique. The thunderstorm we experienced was exciting and helped the team bond. All of us girls really meshed well together and got along well. I wish we had more time in the beautiful city of Bled. The lake was amazing and another day there would have been great. Once we reached Croatia we were all ready to play and go swimming in the clear ocean. Pula was amazing and watching Harry Potter in the colosseum was super cool. Venice was a good place to finish the trip. I cannot wait to go back to Venice to ride a gondola. I am really glad I had the opportunity to travel with this team and experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. I personally appreciate all of the coaches' hard work to make this happen.

Thanks so much,

Emily Newton

 

McKenna's recap

I had an amazing experience on the high performance global challenge trip. Starting in Czech we were greeted by a huge thunder and lightning storm on the first day there after practice. On our days there, it was great to see the castle, towers and the clock show in the city. Other than the sightseeing, we had the chance to play the Czech team and actually get close to beating them, which is crazy since they practice all year, and some have been playing for twelve years or more. We had the honor of eating at an authentic Czech restaurant and tried new foods, like fried cheese. Our bus ride to Slovenia was beautiful, driving through Austria and seeing all the green mountains and villages. In Slovenia, we had such a fun time in the lake, swimming and for some walking on the hamster balls on the water and trying to catch balance.

(on Lake Bled)

 Afterwards we had a scrimmage game against the younger Czech girls (Czech Youth National Team) who we rode on the bus with, which was another good practice as a team before we played in the global challenge. The next morning, we woke up and packed our bags for Croatia and went in the ocean first thing once we got settled in our hotel. The water was pretty and clear and afterwards were covered in salt. We played the next day for day one of the tournament and won our first match on our third attempt. We got our candy and extra snacks from the Market down the street, which we visited often. We had a great time playing each day and getting more experience and better as the days progressed. We were excited to learn that there would be a movie showing of the new Harry Potter in the Colosseum and got the okay to go.

(note the lightning bolts)

After a long day of playing, we got ready with our lightning bolts drawn on our foreheads and wands, ready to go for the midnight showing. It was a great movie and really cool to see lightning and thunder as the backdrop in the huge colosseum. The next morning we had an early match and slept after to catch up on sleep, instead of going to the beach like we would normally do. On our final day, we braided our hair for the final game. Afterward, our team watched the USA girls win the match and the tournament. In closing ceremonies, we watched the "all tournament" awards be handed out and cheered and took pictures with other girls we had met. That night, everyone had fun doing different things from giving clothes and shoes to the young Pula girls, to playing beach volleyball with the Croatian boys. It was sad to leave, but we looked forward to Italy the next day. Once in Venice, we took the train ride and visited the beautiful city. We walked a cool long way through narrow alleys next to the water. Once in the square, we saw the church and beautiful architecture. We were able to go off on our own in groups for a few hours to walk around and shop, and eat pizza and gelato. On our last night, we played and hung out in our hotel and it was crazy to know we would be leaving for America the next day. The flights were great, the only negative was the insane heat on the plane from New York! Once in L.A., we were greeted by our parents and said our goodbyes, hoping to see each other soon, with the great friendships we made. I had a wonderful experience of volleyball, sightseeing, friendships, independence, and of course gelato.

McKenna Murphy

More Pics

SCVA - PULA shirt swap

Closing Ceremonies

All Tournament Team

July 22

Today the team left for Venice while I stayed behind and went to stay with friends in Maribor, Slovenia.  Everyone was off safe and sound, including the 2 moms that I apparently scared by telling them they were on the 6am van departure and don't be late.  Alka said she felt like she was in trouble ;) - nope, just cracking that whip!

I feel this has been a great trip with a great group of young ladies.  They have met some great people, played some tough volleyball and seen some incredible sights. 

I'm waiting for the blog from the girls and will post as soon as I have it.

Val

July 21 - Istra Division Finals/Allie Eason makes All Tournament Team

July 21

The day started with wake up at 7 because we played at 9. We got breakfast at 715 (there are no colons on this computer...). We ate the usual hotel breakfast of bread,eggs,and yogurt. Most of us are getting tired of the same meals every morning. At 8 we met in the lobby to walk to the gym for our first match of the day against Pula, who we had played on the second day. To gaurantee playing in the finals of the Istra Division, we had to beat Pula in 3 games. We started our 9 oclock match and lost the first game, though we had started off with a big lead. We fought for the next two games and won those. After our game was over, we waited to find out if we would play in the finals at two or for bronze at twelve. It came down to scores, but we pretty easily made it to the finals. We went back to the hotel to relax for a little and eat lunch, where Kayla, Amber, and the Maddies surprised us with some super cool hair styles. We decided that we would all do our hair and match each other for the last game we would play as a team. We put our hair into separate parts with little rubber bands, then braided the pieces and put them together into high pony tails. We looked like studs. We left the hotel to the gym, getting some interested looks due to our nifty hair styles. When we got to the gym, we saw some of the German kids we met at the hotel there to watch us play. We were playing the Pula team again, for the third time in the tournament and the second time of the day. Unfortunately, we werent able to come up with a win against the team we had beaten twice already, and we lost in the first three games out of five. Although we lost, it was amazing to see how much we improved as a team. Looking back on our first day and seeing how far we have come was crazy, and it is sad to know we wont play together again. We walked back to the hotel and had to shower and change in an hour to go back and watch the finals. We knew the game between the USA A2 team and the Czech team that we had scrimmaged in Bled. The Czech team won the first game, but the USA team won the next three with a lot of energy and incredible playing. Some of us had girl crushes on the setter, libero, and middle because they were SO talented. After the game, we had closing ceremonies and recieved tournament tshirts and Allie got the all tournament award for our team. Maddie built up the courage to ask the libero from the USA team for a picture. We left the gym for a pizza dinner, tired of the hotel food. We finished eating and were off to the hotel for some mingling and packing to leave. WE LEAVE FOR VENICE TOMORROW and we are all really excited.

Love, Emily and Allie

PS  the whole part where they looked like "studs" due to the braids, well....you be the judge ;)  coulda just been that they looked like studs?! (Val)

More GC Competition and Harry Potter in the Colosseum

*** I am leaving this typed as is since it is sooo special with the typos-Val***

Hello! It is Taylor and Brittany here! This morning we woke up super tired and here is why: A few days ago Allie and I were obsessed with finding a place that we could see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II! (PS this computer won"t let me type regularly> I can"t type periods only exclamation marks! and question marks? and i have to turn on the caps lock to type with capital letters) anyway allie and i went to the front desk and asked if there were any cinemas nearby (they dont call them movie theaters here)> She said that there werent any> She did say though that harry potter was playing at eleven PM in the colosseum!!!!!! we got super excited but we didnt think that Hava and VAL WOULD LET US SEE IT (OKAY THE COMPUTER DECIDED TO ONLY TYPE IN CAPITAL LETTERS! I HAVE NO CONTROLR IGHT NOW!) BUT WHEN WE BROUGHT IT UP THEY SAID THAT WE COULD BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A GOOD CULTURAL EXPERIENCE SINCE IT IS IN THE COLOSSEUM! SO AFTER OUR MATCHES that night (okay it went back to normal) we all took showers and goto ready to go> Allie and I drew lightning bolt shaped scars on almost everyones forheads and then we went outside and broke sticks off of the trees so that we could have wands> then at nine pm we got into some cars thaT hava and brock borrowed and drove to the end of one of thE market streets> we walked down the street and shopped and took pictures and ate pizza> as we were waiting for pizza tWo canadian teenagers were walkingg by and staring at us> Emily was the first to break the awkward silence by exclaiming "hello!" They replied with "Englissh?" and then we started talking to them> Their names were Brady and Marco (POLO!) and they ended up sneaking into the colosseum to see the movie> After pizza we finished the walk to the colosseum and got in line> None of us have probably ever inhaled more secondhand smoke than on this trip! The line took a while to get through but we stuck together by holding hands and linking arms and we passed the time by singing songs and talking to Marco and Brady> they didnt have cool Canadian accents though :( finally we made it into the colosseum> It was already really crowded and we had to split our team in half so thaT we could find seats> Emily and i (it is brittany who is typing this btw) really had to pee so we went into the line while taylor saved our seats> The line probably had like thirty people in it but there were only two stalls and surprisingly the mens line had just as many but we made friends with some girls from germany> we had to watch the firist couple of minutes of the movie from the bathroom line> The movie was incredible though and Allie definitely shed some tears> I got the chills (not from thE cold) seveRal times> Some people didnt want to see the movie as much as some of us did though> Tall Maddie fell asleep within the first half hour and kayla and Little Maddie fell alseep cuddling in a blanket (so precious! I wish I could seen it!)> The weather was perfect for the movie! TheRe was lightning going off in the sky in the nearby cities but never did it come near us luckily> it was also peRfect becausE the wind would pick up at the really intense parts of the movie! When it was oveR we all met outside at a predeterned spot and started walking toward the main street where Hava and Brock were going to pick us up> Unfortunately as we werE walking Anjali slipped on the stony sidewalk and landed on heR tailbone> she was really sore the next day and was thEreforoE unable to play the next day :( By the time we it back to thE hotel and went to bed it was three AM!!!! We had to get up at seven to go to breakfast so that we could leave by eight and play by nine> Our first match was against OK Galeb (i believe that they are from montenegro) we lost in three and we played a little sluggishly> but we made up for lost sleep in between matches> for most of us we slept once we got to the hotel> we only woke up to go lunch but then we fell asleep again> it felt nice and by the next match we were more awake and ready to go> we played ncva (northern california) and beat them in three> this made us feel better because it gave us a chance to be in the finals of the Istra division> after the match we showered and got ready for dinner> we were extremely tired of the hotel food so we were treated to pizza by the ptaks as a special treat> it was really good and we were very satisfied after> we were still tired from the lack of sleep so most of us went straight to bed after doing our laundry for the next day of play> this whole trip has been such an incredible experience and we can"t believe that it is almost over! it is really cool to meet all of these foreign people and realize that though we live so far away from eachother we are still very much the same> it is also really cool to leave our mark in such an amazing place> a couple of us were asked to take pictures with girls from other countries and we saw two girls wearing some of taylors old mission viejo high school jerseys> anyway we are having a ton of fun! but we miss everyone a lot too!!

this is taylor and brittany signing out again!

update

Quick note after a win versus host Pula and a loss to NOVA KBM - played much better today then went to the sea before dinner.  The coaches have decided to let the players go to see Harry Potter in the Colosseum - yes ancient and beautiful!  More from the girls soon.

Day 6 - First GC Competition Day

Day 6 was our first day of the tournament. We played our first game at 12 after eating breakfast at hotel Pula. We played the Romanian team and lost 2-1, we won the last game which was very exciting! After that match, we went back to the hotel, ate lunch, and rested up before our match against Italy. We played alot better against them in our first two games. They were very close and we worked well as a team! Even though we didn't win every game, we were able to improve our game as a team and earn more points. After that match we changed into bathing suits and went down to the beach before dinner. Dinner was basically the same as the previous night but still good! Some of us went to the market to get some Croatian candy to spice things up! Now it's time to shower and get some sleep before our matches tomorrow.

Kayla


This was a day where the team didn't really have much down time with matches at noon and 4, so not a ton to report.  I think they are learning a ton about International Competition and getting a taste of what "real volleyball" is all about.  These International Teams have been playing at a high level (and together) for extended periods of time and we are slowly but surely adapting to the different style of play and competing well with them.  We have a match against OK Pula (the host team) in the morning and look forward to the battle (especially since it is against one of my very good friends the coach, Goran).  Boy do I hope we take it to them tomorrow :)

Val

Day 5 - Bled to Pula

As we gathered in the lobby in Bled, Slovenia, we marched our way to the buses which would take us to our third destination which was Pula, Croatia. The bus ride was 3 hours long, some of us slept and watched some foreign movies while others watched the scenery of Bled disappear and Pula began to appear. The trees grew thicker and the sun grew higher in the sky. When we reached the border of Croatia, we had to get our passports out to get another stamp in them. When we arrived in Pula, we checked into the hotel and then went straight to lunch. After filling our stomachs with a delicious meal we went to our rooms and got ready to go down to the beach. The beach was a short walking distance from the hotel. We made our way down a path and we saw a picture perfect view of the beach. Though it is covered with rocks instead of sand, it was still a lot of fun swimming out with our floats. The water was warm but the waves were choppy. After spending about 3 hours down at the beach, we managed to get through showers and another delicious meal. The cafeteria was filled with all the other teams from around the world. At 8 o'clock, we took a bus down to the City Center where the Opening Ceremonies took place. We had 40 minutes to roam around the plaza, in which some of us went to go find gelato and others got crepes.

When it was time for the ceremony we lined up in front of the stage. With an opening act of their culture with young children dancing, they introduced each team and the parents got a chance to take pictures. At the end of the ceremony all the teams took one big picture together. Then, Brock took us to go see the colosseum. It was beautiful and looked amazing during the night. At 10 o'clock we boarded the bus to take us back to the hotel. Once at the hotel everyone got ready for bed after a long and exciting day.

With love,
Anjali & Willow

More Pics

Bled Castle

The Church on the Island - Bled

Overlooking Lake Bled

SCVA HP and CZECH JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM

Opening Ceremonies

Yep, it is our team in Pula

Traditional Croatian Dancers

Tournament

Hello all just a quick update as I am waiting for the journal from yesterday AND we will have a new one later today.  We arrived safely in Pula and attended Opening Ceremonies in the city center last night.  Had a rough first match vs. the Romanian team who took second in this tournament last year.  More info coming soon!
Val

Day 4 - Bled, Slovenia

Today was very fun and exciting. It all started at 6:30 in the morning. We woke up, took a shower and went down to breakfast. We had the same breakfast but this time there was Nutella! Then we all gathered in the lobby and checked out of Czech! We quickly scurried over to the bus and loaded our stuff in it. Once we were all on the bus, we realized there were others players on the bus too! It was the Czech Junior National Team! We sat in our seat (that we would be sitting in for the next 10 hours) and our journey began. We listened to our iPods, drew and slept! We also watched Dirty Dancing in Czech. It was great, but hard to follow along with the story plot. 6 hours into the bus ride, we watched another movie, Bridget Jones' Diary. It was in English! We first stopped at a gas station to have a potty and snack break. Our second stop was the same thing but this time, we got lunch! We arrived at our hotel in Bled right up the street from the lake at around 5. We hiked our stuff up a hill to the lobby to receive our keys for the hotel room we'd be staying in for the night. We were told to grab our bathingsuits and volleyball gear and meet 15 minutes later to go swimming in Lake Bled. We began walking down to the lake at around 5:30 and once we got there we spotted bright colored floating balls in the water or as we called them "Hamster Balls". We immediately wanted to go in them. On the way to the "Hamster Balls" we met a swan who we named Calvin. We decided to feed him the Ritz crackers that Kayla had in her bag, he really liked them! Brittany then started feeding him grass. Then, we walked over to the Private Swiming Areas where the Hamster Balls were waiting. Some of the girls forgot their money, so they just bought swimming tickets. The ones who brought their money, sprinted to the Hamster Balls and bought a 5 minute Hamster Ball ticket. Watching the girls in the Hamster Balls was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my entire life! As they struggled to stand up and not flop everywhere, the other girls laughed hysterically. After a couple hours of swimming and jumping off the diving board, we had to quickly gather our things and head off to a "Friendly Match" with the Czech Junior National Team. We put our wet hair up and volleyball gear and game faces on, and started our long hike to the gym. We arrived at the gym and started to warm up. The line-up was given and the whistle was blown... our match had started. The game ended in a very close score of 21-25. The next game started poorly, but to our surprise we picked it up and ended the game 25-17. After the game was finished, we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed a very lovely meal. This consisted of starter salad, Cauliflower soup, Chicken and rice and then for dessert we had cake! The coaches informed us that we could stay out until 11 o'clock and we immediately thought to get Gelato! Some of us went back to our rooms and showered, while others were too lazy and simply put on sweats. We seperated into two groups and our group decided to take the scenic route to the Gelato Place. Once we arrived, we found out that it was closed. As dissapointed as we were, we decided to keep trying and go to another Gelato shop. We luckily found one open and also found the other girls enjoying their Gelato! We got our gelato and found out they didn't take credit cards making McKenna and Kayla pay for the group! After our gelato experience, we walked back to the hotel and went up to our rooms and fell asleep quickly. It was a great day and we hope there is more to come!

With love,

The Mad(d)i(e)'s!

Day 3 - Prague

Day three was exciting. This morning McKenna actually woke up at a normal time. We all went down for breakfast before 9 AM. Afterwards we played the Czech team again and played relatively better. We actually got to 20 points in one game. Our team is really starting to come together. The more we play the better we get, we will get them next time!

After our game we had pizza and "special bread", we don't know the actual name, but it had egg, pickles, ham, etc. During lunch we talked with the Czech girls and learned their name, ages, how long they have been playing (one had been playing for 12 years), and if they liked Justin Beiber, which of course they did. Afterwards we went back to our hotel where we had an hour to shower and get back downstairs to do more shopping and sight seeing.

Once arriving at New Town Prague we decided to split into 2 groups. One group, Allie, Taylor, Brittany, McKenna, Maggie, and Emily went into the city hoping to see the latest Harry Potter in honor of Taylor's birthday. We started with talking to people, asking for directions to the theater, but sadly the only available time was dubbed in Czech, and unfortunately we were unable to learn their language in 20 minutes. So we went back into the city and started by shopping in different stores, and tried on funny outfits in one clothing shop. While walking around, we heard about the clock ceremony and saw that happen just in time. In a large crowd around the old clock, we watched a small gold skeleton wring a bell and then a man dressed in red played a trumpet from the balcony of the building. Afterwards, we stopped for some amazing Gelato, and circled up to surround pigeons to sum up the sun outing.

Meanwhile the second group consisting of Big Maddie, Little Maddie, Kayla, Anjali, and Amber headed straight for McDonalds. Afterwards we went to a few clothing stores and wandered through the busy streets of Prague. While walking by a Thai Massage place we noticed they were giving fish pedicures. Yeah, fish pedicures. You can stick your arms and feet in and dozens of tiny fish eat away your dead skin. The regular price was 599 crowns, about 35$, however we got it for 399 crowns because we had such a large group. Unfortunately, they only took cash, which none of us were carrying, so we had to go get money first. While gone Amber got pooped on by a pigeon and we ended up getting directed to an ATM. When we finally made it back to the Thai place a large group of men had showed up so we were told it would be "impossible" to do it then and would have to come back in half an hour when it would then once again be possible. So with time to kill we decided to go get Gelato. We then wandered down the side of one of the buildings and found a cute zen tea shop. After making ourselves at home on their small bamboo outdoor patio we were asked to order drinks or leave. Seeing as we still had 25 minutes to kill we decided to order some "Chai Chai Chai" tea. No doubt the best tea we have ever drank. This killed more time than we had expected and we ended up being a few minutes late to our appointment. No worries though, this time upon return there was no large group of men hogging all the fish. The pedicures were the strangest feeling, like little vibrations on your hands and feet. Three of us were sitting in the window seats and had large groups gather in front taking pictures and waving at us. We were sorta like celebrities. After about 20 minutes we got pretty bored and decided it was time to head on back to meet the rest of our team.

 

After we were all done exploring downtown, we all met up together at 6:45 for dinner at a Czech restaurant called "The Intersection", but in Czech of course. The food was amazing and we really got a taste of great authentic Czech food. We then said goodbye to our lovely tour guide and went back to the Hotel. We all packed because we leave tomorrow at 7 AM to head over to Slovenia. Czech us out!!

Some pics for you

 Entrance to Prague Castle

In the Castle

Look at all of the goooold

A little lunch

SCVA HP and PRAGUE TEAM

Climbing up to Prague Castle

The guard at the castle

More of Day 2

We will have a match in the morning at 11am, then enjoy lunch with the other team before some down time and time in the center.  The day will finish with dinner at an authentic Czech Pub for some great Czech cuisine before we head back to the hotel to rest up for our 7am departure on Saturday!  Pics coming soon ~ Val

Day 2 - Prague

Our first day waking up in Prague started earlier for some than others. If you're McKenna, then you woke up at one (in the morning) and layed in bed for six hours until breakfast was served. Considering the fact that some of us had been up for thirty hours straight, this was kind of insane. Others woke up at four, but the normal ones (like us) didn't wake up until our alarms went off. Everyone went to breakfast in the lobby, which consisted mostly of bread, butter, and apple juice. We were all dressed up for sightseeing in the city. Well, some were less dressed up, like tall Maddie and her shorts with a pinky-sized hole in the butt. Ignoring this, we made our way through the streets on a trolley and arrived at the base of a massive, lush, and grassy hill. We had to make the decision of either hiking, or taking a tram to reach the top. This may seem like an obvious decision, however we chose to throw in some extra exercise and take on the mountain on foot.

We set off on our journey through many switchbacks and uneven paths. One could visibly see the hole in Maddie's shorts growing into a good sized slit once we reached the top. We took some group pictures in front of the beautiful city of Prague, then entered a room full of fun mirrors that made us look fat, skinny, and like we had abnormally long thighs. Then we went into a mirror maze, which was easy to navigate and we quickly found our way out.

Next, we faced yet another difficult decision... to climb or not to climb a tower one third the size of the Eiffel tower. Half of us decided to pay fifty krowns (about three dollars) in order to climb to the top and see the whole city. After returning from six hundred steps up and down the tower, the group reunited, happy to learn that Maddie's hole problem and been solved thanks to Brock's jacket. The six that didn't climb up the tower discovered a lovely swing and were dying to get their turn on it. After being pressured by Hava to invade the young children's personal space until they left the swing, they got their finally got their turn!

Marching back down the mountain through the streets, we reached the Prague castle. We tried to make the guards laugh unsuccessfully. Inside, was a beautiful cathedral with magnificent stained glass windows. After taking a ton of photos, we walked the streets until we reached Pizza Express. We got either a slice of pizza or of a calzone. Because the long walk (which, according to Brittany, was beautiful and fun) tired us out, we all sat in front of the restaurant on the curb and ate our lunch. Two random male strangers decided to squeeze in between Taylor and little Maddie and demanded a photo with all of us California girls, rudely yet humorously disturbing our lunch.

We walked across a the Charles Bridge and into a small and busy plaza for some shopping and gelato. Some of us bought souvenirs, and after returning to the hotel, tall Maddie's shorts entirely ripped down the seam, we got ready for our first match in Europe! Some parents caught up with us on the buses to watch us play at the gym. As we walked through the doors of the naturally lit gym, we immediately noticed a group of huge, almost middle-aged girls laying down and stretching on the floor. We knew this would be an interesting match.

Our warm-up consisted of hectic shared hitting, which, to say the least, was potentially dangerous and life-threatening. The first two games we lost 16-25, and the third was 18-25, and we don't need to talk about the last two. We headed off to dinner at an Italian restaurant, and ate way too much, laughing hysterically at McKenna's gorgeous faces. We walked outside and were greeted by some possibly drunk (yet harmless - especially with our coaches/admin and guides to guard us) guys who also wanted a picture with us. Trying to hold ourselves together, we got on another trolley back to the hotel. Entirely exhausted from a day of walking around the pretty city, we were anxious to take showers and head off to bed. We were all looking forward to our next day in Prague!

Please excuse any typos or undecipherable sentences- it's been a long day! -__-

<3 Allie and Emily

Day 1 - Prague

Our lovely day of travel started at 11:30 when all of the girls met up in the airport. Some were earlier than the others, so the few that were early went to Starbucks. Nothing like a hot coffee and bagel to get your traveling started (And when we say traveling we don't mean in first class with leg room oh no... we mean a 10 hour plane flight squished together between complete strangers and little to no sleep). Don't get us wrong, we had a fun time. After everyone had gotten there and checked in, we made our way over to the security line.

We saw a lot of interesting people going to some far away places, but none were as interesting as the elderly woman in a headdress tripping and falling backwards on the up escalator while it was still moving. It was really scary, but when we knew that she was okay, we burst out laughing. Once we had finally made it through the security line (well some of us did) we checked to make sure that everyone was there...but Kayla had been caught trying to smuggle on a 40 ounce tub of Jiffy Peanut butter. Let's just say that that was confiscated right away. Meanwhile, McKenna was disinfecting her feet with Purell after walking on the dirty floor.

We all went to our gate and all took off in small groups to get something to eat before the long plane ride and go to the bathroom. We got on the plane and after some switching around most of us were in comfortable places. There was no problem with taking off on the huge plane, which had an upstairs for first class, and then we were served dinner. On board movies, games, and music were able to pass some of the time in the beginning, but if we couldn't fall asleep, the hours of staying awake started to make us go a little crazy. After 10 hours, we finally landed in Amsterdam and had to wait about an hour for our next flight to Prague.

While we were waiting in the airport, we saw some really cool police guys. They were wearing black, leather combat boots and matching blue uniforms, but the coolest part was the hats that hung over the sides of their heads and had badges on them. Some of us wanted pictures with them, so we started walking over with our cameras. They must have known what we wanted because they rejected us before we got within ten feet of them. That was a huge disappointment. How many opportunities do most people get to take pictures with foreign security gaurds carrying giant, loaded machine guns? The weather in Amsterdam was cloudy and rainy and due to that we had to switch gates. We took a bus to the other gate and got on a much smaller plane. A majority of the girls slept, which passed the time a lot faster and made the flight seem like nothing. We finally got to Prague and retrieved our luggage. Brittany started to worry when her luggage didn't come with the rest of ours. Luckily it came with the next wave.

With our passports stamped and our bags in hand, we met our guides and loaded into the bus. We had only been in Prague for a little bit, but we could tell it was really beautiful. The cobblestone streets and gothic architecture were very impressive. When we got to the Hotel Prokopka after a smooth ride in the bus, we paired off into rooms and then into groups of four for the suites. Brittany, Taylor, Emily, and Anjulie shared a suite. Allie, Amber, Kayla, and taller Maddie shared a suite. And finally, shorter Maddie, Willow, Maggie, and Mckenna shared a suite. We all got settled and then met downstairs to go to practice. We took a bus and then walked a little ways to get to the gym which seemed very strange compared to what we were used to. The court was orange and green and seemed to be made of some rubbery material. Glass windows let in some very nice natural light which most of us couldn't truly appreciate due to lack of sleep. Practice went well, but we sweat a lot...no air conditioning. Some showers were definitely necessary at this point so our guides took two trips to personally drive us back to the hotel. The first wave hurried to shower, so that by the time the second wave got to the hotel, they could quickly get into the shower.

We got into some comfortable clothes and walked a couple blocks to dinner. Unfortunately, it started to rain on us. We made it to the restauraunt and sat down around a couple tables. Dinner consisted of a nicely seasoned starter soup, chicken with mushroom sauce, and ice cream with bananas for dessert. Our trip back wasn't as dry though. It was actually raining a substantial amount. Once the lightning and thunder started, we definitely picked up our pace. Before returning to the hotel, however, some of us stopped by the market next to the hotel to get water, redbull, oranges, and kleenex. Paying for that took some time though. The cashier wouldn't take Euros. Who doesn't take Euros as an acceptable form of payment in EUROpe? This cashier doesn't! Some money was lent to us from our team mates, and we ran back to our hotel shrieking in the heavy rain. By this time, Brittany and Taylor had been up for 30 hours (having been unable to sleep on the plane), and everyone was ready for bed. The weather decided that it wasn't time for bed though by booming with thunder and flashing blinding lightning. Actually, the lightning wasn't just flashing periodically, it was more like a strobe light. The thunder got so loud that we heard screams from the street and other parts of the hotel. Lightning must have hit the hotel somewhere because the power in Willow, Maggie, McKenna, and shorter Maddie's room went out completely. With no light and intense sleepiness, we set our alarms and went to bed. It had been a long, but very fun first day (Well technically it was two days, but most of never slept, so it felt like one day).

This is Brittany and Taylor signing out! Nighty-night to all!

PS the lightning did NOT hit the hotel or we all would have been up a creek - Val

Arrival Day

So I met the team at the Prague Airport....and although they departed the plane looking a little more than tired, all was well.  The luggage arrived WITH the team and we were on our way to the hotel.  After checking in, we had a little down time before we headed to our first practice, then managed to make it through a couple of hours of play before heading back for some much needed food.  As I watched the girls at dinner, it was quite obvious they were DONE, so they came back to the hotel and have, quite easily I'm  sure, crashed for the night.  We are off to seet the castle in the morning....more soon.